OBJECTIVES
The course is meant to provide a comprehensive introduction into the study of Chaucer's writings. The issues in
focus will be Chaucer's engagement with the literary tradition; narrative strategies and Chaucer's narrator persona
(s); "earnest and game" - humour, irony, parody and their uses. The course also proposes to map Chaucer's poetic
career in presenting selections of his earlier works alongside his best known piece, The Canterbury Tales, tracing
developments as well as continuities in the predominant concerns in Chaucer's texts.

MATERIAL
Primary texts:
selection of lyrics
Parliament of Fowls
The Canterbury Tales:
General Prologue
Wife of Bath's Prologue
The Merchant's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
selections from The Tale of Sir Thopas, Ther Tale of Melibee, The Nuns' Priest's Tale
Primary texts will be provided in original with glosses and in translation for convenience, but a willingness to look
beyond the translation to the original is requisite for a fair treatment and discussion of the texts.
Secondary texts:
A selection of critical reading will be posted in Moodle.
Recommended reading:
Brown, P., ed. (2000) A Companion to Chaucer, Oxford: Blackwell
Cooper, H. (1989) The Canterbury Tales. Oxford Guides to Chaucer, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Edwards, R.R. (1989) The Dream of Chaucer: Representation and Reflection in the Early Narratives, Durham:
Duke University
Hansen, T.E. (1992) Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender, Berkeley: University of California Press
Mann, J. (1973) Chaucer and Medieval Estates Satire, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Patterson, L. (1991) Chaucer and the Subject of History, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press

ASSESSMENT
Students are expected to give one oral presentation and submit a paper of 1,200 words for a credit. An essay of
5,000 words should be submitted as a graded paper. Active participation is of the essence.